When us judges met to determine the winner of the Colorado Book Awards pictorial category, it was not a long conversation. Andrea Monath Schumacher’s coffee table book Vibrant Interiors: Living Large at Home swept us off our feet and whisked us into the well-decorated world of Schumacher’s creations. With every page I turned, I found myself longing to live in the refined, detailed-orientated, and design-forward spaces I saw before me. That brings me to the best part about this opus: Schumacher isn’t bragging about her design prowess on the pages, but rather giving nuanced insights into her choices and thoughtful tips on how you can replicate them yourself.
Here Is Some of Her Best Advice:
- Design is far from simple, but Schumacher boils her strategy down to this essential recipe: “Mix genres, eras, textures, and price points. Then stir.”
- Every home needs what Schumacher calls “conversation starters,” a collection of four chairs set around a tea-height table (24″ tall). It is the ideal setup for relaxed chitchat and is best paired with a twinkling chandelier to cast a romantic glow.
- “Chandeliers are like diamond earrings for your home,” Schumacher writes. And she doesn’t just limit them to dining and great rooms. Use the luxury lighting in your bathroom, study, game room, etc.
- Decorate your home with personal artifacts that can set the tone of the rest of the house and spark conversation when guests arrive.
- The ceiling is the fifth wall. While you don’t have to create a Michelangelo-worthy skyscape, open beams or a geometric wallpaper complete the space and draw the eye upwards.
- Match the pop of color in your home to the color of your eyes for a personal touch.
- Use found objects, like a gilt trunk or antique handheld mirror, to reflect and ricochet the sunlight. Schumacher fills her projects with treasures she finds from markets around the world.
- Opposites attract. But Schumacher digs deeper to say that opposite patterns have an amplified impact when one is a macro print and the other is a micro pattern.
- “If you’re going to create a masterpiece, you’ve got to frame it properly.” Schumacher, referring to a room’s entry, recommends adorning doorways with stunning antique woodwork to really make an entrance.
- It is lucky to paint your front door red, especially if your home faces west or south.
